


Trapped

by LBibliophile



Series: Fire Lord Zuko's Assassination Attempt Bingo [6]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ambushes and Sneak Attacks, Assassination Attempt(s), Bingo Fill, Fire Lord Zuko, Firebending & Firebenders, Gen, Minor Character Death, Trapped, Trapped in a Burning Building, Whumptober 2020, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:33:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27190451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LBibliophile/pseuds/LBibliophile
Summary: Fire Lord Zuko is doing his best to fix things, so he would really appreciate it if people would stop trying to kill him already.And his guards would really appreciate it if there were fewer people around who could do so effectively.For Wumptober 2020 - day 25: I think I'll just collapse right here, thanks; day 14: Fire
Relationships: Zuko & Oc
Series: Fire Lord Zuko's Assassination Attempt Bingo [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1955584
Comments: 17
Kudos: 311
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Trapped

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit of a different style to the other parts of the series (and rather longer), focused more on the event than the aftermath. Zuko discovers that he is much less blase about the assassination attempts when it is someone else getting hurt (see the tags).

Fire Lord Zuko wakes in the infirmary.

That’s… that’s probably a good thing.

Because the last thing he can remember is lying flat on rough wooden planks, the air thick with smoke, and feeling the flames slip from his control.

* * *

It should have been a pleasant afternoon. Accompany Toph down to her ship – walking, so she can keep her feet on solid Earth for as long as possible – then take a slightly circuitous route back so he can enjoy the nice weather and escaping from his duties for once. But no. Because the problem with coming out of a hundred years of war, is that far too many now-civilians have at least basic military training.

And that means that he doesn’t realise they are being herded until they are deep within the warehouse district between the docks and the city centre, any near-by foot traffic melting away – _empty streets surrounded by blank walls_ ; _stupidstupid, you shouldn’t have let it get this far_.

It means he doesn’t realise that they are under attack until Kaneto is pushing him out of the way, the arrow slipping beneath an upflung arm to lodge itself deep in the guardsman’s throat – _don’t think about the sound of the arrow sinking into flesh, choking off a cry; don’t think about his body slumping to the ground, dead before you realised what was happening; don’t think about how nearly that was almost you._

It means that when they attack in person – almost a dozen fighters, firebenders and non-benders both – they move as a team, supporting each other’s attacks rather than hindering.

Of course, it is not enough, not against _him_. Kaneto might be down, but he still has Guardswoman Sayumi by his side. The attackers have both numbers and the element of surprise, surrounding them in the narrow street, but it takes only minutes for them to rally and break free – _to escape not to fight, because Kaneto is dead and he doesn’t know if they have reinforcements, and he has learnt that sometimes retreat can be the honourable option._

They escape into the maze of back-alleys. And he knows that it is a mistake; every turn leads them further away from the safety of the main roads, and around any corner his luck could run out and leave them facing a dead end. If it was just him, he’d take to the roofs – risking confrontation with the archer and anyone else stationed up there – but there are no obvious routes up, and he can see Sayumi beside him limping as she runs.

Instead he takes the next best option. Hurrying while their pursuers are still out of sight, he breaks open one of the doors; feeding a sharp burst of flame into the lock to warp the mechanism while leaving it externally undamaged. Quietly, they slip inside.

The door opens directly onto the warehouse floor, crates and barrels and bales stacked in endless aisles. Keeping their ears open for any other movement they make their way deeper into the room, twisting and turning down the narrow paths, until they are out of sight of the doors. At last, he stops and slumps down on a crate.

“We should be safe enough here for a few minutes. At least long enough to catch our breath.”

Sayumi collapses onto the crate next to him, completely disregarding protocol.

“Good, because I need to get this leg wrapped, or I’m not going much further at all.”

He looks over at her outstretched leg, wincing as he sees the slash in her uniform pants, the red fabric discoloured below. His fault.

“Do you want…” He hesitantly reaches towards her, but lets his hands fall as she gives him a tight smile, already pulling bandages out of a pouch.

“I’ve got this. You keep listening and make sure aren’t snuck up on.” Again.

He leans back, his breathing steadying, his ears alert for any echoes; but his mind is churning. He should be planning their next steps – how they are going to get out of this, all the paperwork he will have to deal with afterwards, ferreting out the story behind this particular band of dissidents – but instead his mind just keeps replaying the dull _thunk_ of an arrow hitting flesh, the rush of panic, the brief glimpse of blank eyes staring up at him…

A sudden flare of heat in his fire-sense throws him out of his spiralling thoughts. The fresh-lit fire glows brightly against the cool background of the empty district. He reaches out to the flames, feels their eager grasp on the painted wood of the warehouse wall, feels the touch of another bender pushing them stronger, higher. His head jerks around as he feels another blaze spark to life, and another… He curses.

“Time’s up. Looks like they’ve found us. And instead of waiting or coming in after us, they’re going to smoke us out.”

Sayumi grimaces.

“Well that makes these guys either very smart or very dumb. Because however you take it,” she nods at the crates and barrels surrounding them, “ _we_ are about to be in a world of trouble.”

He squints, trying to read the text stamped onto the wood. This is a drygoods warehouse, so… beans, rice, cured meat, and… oh.

“The oil.”

She snorts.

“Yeah, the oil is bad. The flour is worse.”

“Wait. Flour?”

“Something I saw a couple of years ago; we were trying to lock down this little Earth Kingdom place. Now normally even the earthgrubbers realise that, however bad we are, surviving the winter has to come first. But someone must have been desperate enough to decide that there were more important uses for their flour than simple cooking. Turns out, under the right – or wrong – circumstances, setting fire to a barrel of flour can be just about as bad as a barrel of blasting jelly.”

He looks around the room again, and feels a shiver go down his spine. Yeah. That… that would be bad. Even Uncle wouldn’t be able to deal with _that_ inferno. He takes a deep breath and settles into meditation position.

“In that case, we’ll simply have to make sure they don’t catch on fire.”

He closes his eyes to focus, but opens them again when Sayumi nudges at his arm.

“Sir. Your majesty, you should go. With your skills, you still have a decent chance to get out…”

“Not without you. Now shush, and let me concentrate.”

He reaches out to the fires again, feeling how much they’ve grown even during that short exchange. They lick eagerly at the dry wood, fuelled by the wind whistling through the alleyways, and the power of one… two… thee… four benders. There’s no way he can extinguish them by himself, so he doesn’t try. Besides, a blaze like this draws attention; he just needs to slow it down long enough for help to arrive. Letting out a steady breath, he wraps the flames in his will, and holds.

He doesn’t know how long he sits there, battling over every inch of charred wood. In the part of his mind not locked on his struggle, he knows that it is too long. At least one of the other benders has swapped out for someone fresh; someone should have seen by now. Given how well the rest of the attack had been planned, perhaps he should have expected that they would plan for even such an eventuality as this. But help will come eventually, and there is nothing else he can do, so he holds.

He can keep the heat and flames at bay, but there is nothing he can do for the smoke. When he cracks his eyes open, they start watering immediately in the thick haze. Sayumi is unconscious on the floor beside him, smoke inhalation or blood loss, he can’t tell; he carefully lowers himself to join her – _to escape some of the smoke, that’s all, not because he is swaying where he sits; he can’t afford to give in to the exhaustion_. Blocking out his awareness of anything but the fires fighting his grasp, he _holds_.

* * *

Ripping himself out of the memory, he gasps, blessedly smoke-free air burning as he fills his lungs. Sayumi. How is Sayu-

His eyes latch onto a figure in the bed next to him. His breath catches; she is lying so still… Then her chest rises, and he lets out a sigh. She’s breathing; not dead, at least – _not like Kaneto, with his blank staring eyes…_

He focuses on the next steps. If their rescuers managed to apprehend any of their attackers, he’ll have to find out what they wanted. If they all got away, then he’ll have to organise for a search so this doesn’t happen _again_ – _he doesn’t want anyone else to die for him, they shouldn’t have to take their job that far_.

He glances at Sayumi again. And in the meantime, he needs to get someone to look into the safest methods of storing flour. This is the _Fire_ nation, after all. Accidents happen.

**Author's Note:**

> Flour/dust explosions are a real hazard, but they occur when there is a sufficient concentration of dust in the air when a spark is introduced. So as long as they don’t start throwing the barrels around, Zuko and Sayumi were fairly safe from that.
> 
> Next up: A meeting goes horribly wrong, and Aang tries to do his job and make things better.


End file.
